Pep Guardiola claims Manchester City's season will be a failure whether they beat Bournemouth in the FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday or not.
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Guardiola claims City's season has failedPremier League and Champions League hopes are overThey face Bournemouth in the FA Cup on SundayFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
City's hopes of winning a fifth Premier League title in a row are over, while they are also out of the Champions League after a campaign in which they have failed to hit their usual heights. They head to the Vitality Stadium with the opportunity to reach a seventh-straight FA Cup semi-final, but their boss believes victory would not fix a bad season.
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Guardiola kept faith with the core of the squad that had won the Premier League title every year between 2021-24 for this campaign, but a damaging injury to Ballon d'Or winner Rodri as well as a drop-off from several key men has seen them struggle to maintain their previous standards. Four players were signed in January at a cost of over £170 million ($230m) and Guardiola looks set to enact even more of a turnover to his squad this summer.
WHAT GUARDIOLA SAID
Guardiola said: "Of course it would be nice to arrive in the final of the FA Cup and win it, and qualify for the Champions League. I am pretty sure that right now it would be seen as a big success – but the season has been poor and it's not going to change. Our standards and many things were not good and that is the reality. Of course we want to do it so we have one more (trophy). But how we behave this season is not going to change, even if we qualify for the Champions League and win the FA Cup."
Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR MANCHESTER CITY?
City's trip to the Vitality Stadium is followed by a Premier League game at home to Leicester on Wednesday evening. They currently sit fifth in the table, which would likely be enough to see them qualify for the Champions League should they stay there.